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Waterloo Park

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In recent years, Waterloo Park has become a place with a single function: its dusty lawns are filled with throngs of visitors during large gatherings such as Fun Fun Fun Fest or the Kite Festival, but otherwise abandoned the rest of the year. This is not one of the low-key but much loved greenbelt spaces, nor is it a recognizable urban park. The design plan adds definition to this space, creating a signature urban park.

The Refuge

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In the Refuge, the design will create an island as a new open space thrumming with cultural and ecological activity, a heart that will leverage this re-energized public realm for future development. Between 7th and 10th Streets, the west bank of Waller Creek is flanked by the vibrant Red River music district, home to beloved venues like Stubb’s.

The Narrows

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The Narrows district, between 4th and 7th Streets, makes up the most tightly constrained and urban-feeling stretch of Waller Creek. Although it is bound by retaining walls, existing development, and roadways that limit horizontal expansion, the Narrows district, after much of the channel is removed from the flood plain, holds great promise for animating the creek through “vertical urbanism.” The constrained spaces offer unique opportunities for design interventions following the improvement of trail connectivity and creek ecology.

The Grove

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In the Grove, a new stand of live oaks—Heritage Trees for future generations—creates a cool and shady continuous canopy above an expansive ground plane of granular paving and hardscaped paths. The sides of the cut are lined with concrete walls that recall regional limestone karst formations. Rather than perpetuating the theme of limestone masonry that currently pervades the creek the design will utilize locally quarried block as the formwork for the concrete walls.

Performance Stage

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The full service venue will have concessions, seating, VIP section, restrooms, and top tier accommodations for attracting the best artists and events. The space will host high-quality programs and utilize the centerpiece that is the new band shell.

The Lattice

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An early intervention at the juncture of the creek and the lake, “The Lattice,” takes its name from a series of five bridges that cross Waller Creek between Cesar Chavez Street and the mouth of the creek. Delicate and lightweight, these bridges are inexpensive and simple to build, using durable lightweight materials such as steel cable, synthetic rope, and regionally sourced eastern cottonwood decking. The existing monolithic limestone blocks on the banks of the creek can be carefully repurposed as abutments for some of these bridges.

Pontoon Bridge

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Pedestrians and cyclists in East Austin who wish to cross the lake must now use the Congress Avenue Bridge or the IH-35 pedestrian bridge, which are nearly 1.5 miles apart. The new pontoon bridge is roughly halfway between Congress Ave. and IH-35 as it crosses the lake, creating a new connection from downtown and East Austin to South Shore Central. The bridge is tethered the shore at the mouth of Waller Creek and moves like a pendulum twice a day alternately acting as a lakeside boardwalk and a lake crossing.

Waller Creek is a thin, urban riparian ecosystem that meanders from the northern part of Austin southward through UT campus and along the eastern edge of the downtown area before it meets Lady Bird Lake. The Waller Creek Conservancy, in a unique public-private partnership with the City of Austin, acts as the steward of Waller Creek by playing a vital role in the preservation, redevelopment and maintenance of the creek’s surrounding parks, nearby businesses, adjoining neighborhoods and community at large.